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Bizarre fatality while skiing

Not sure if you have all heard, but a veteran skier and coach that frequented Ski Paradise, died last month in a bizarre accident. While skiing agressivley through the slalom course at short line he took a fall around number 6 and got his head in the triangle of the handle bridle.

As a result of this accident there has been renewed interest in modifying handles to prevent his and other handle related injuries, as well as additional thought being given to how buoy counts are scored (to discourage skiers from hanging on at all costs).

If anyone is interested I can put you in touch with a guy out west who has been modifying handles for a long time to prevent just this type of accident. But the design has never caught on. I know that Gordon at Ski Paradise will be using the modified handles on all of his ropes.

Also if you are interested - a fund has been set up for his kids.

This is a safety issue that concerns anyone who is an 'all-out' skier.

I saw a program awhile ago. There was a skiier who hit the ramp, Launched off and flew like the wind. He he landed, that was a different story. He wobbled a bit and fell forward. His head went into the Y of the handle and you know what happened next. The rope pulled seperated his neck from his spine. He did not die but he can never ski again.

They put a mesh net over the opening and secur it at the base and both sides with plastic tie-wraps. Leaving enough open space around the handle to avoid interfering with grip. The design does not prevent an arm from going through, but may discourage it.

I bought what the dealer handed to me...a surf rope with no handle. Just a thick rope with a few knots in it. A 6" rubber grip wraps the rope in front of the last knot. Don't even recall the brand. I do know it works great, is safe for rider (no solid parts) and on passengers and boat finish when tossing it back into the boat.

Rope is quite easy to grip, as there is not much force required to get up onto, and stay on, the board. Granted, the T handle would be even easier in that regard. With rope, quite easy to reach a forward knot if you wish to adjust your fore/aft proximity to the boat. You can even let out a couple of feet of slack past the rear hand, and won't have a handle banging on your leg. Seldom, likely never, would a surfer (in our experience) hold at a steady rope length thru the ride. It would vary, just as a skilled ropeless surfer would.

I found an example of the T handle in use on Youtube. Can't imagine it serving the purpose, as there are no forward knots for use adjusting position, as mentioned above.